BOULDER - Colorado’s women’s soccer team had five players land in TopDrawerSoccer’s midseason rankings on Wednesday, Oct. 21, giving the Buffs a strong showing across both the national Top 100 and the Freshman Top 100.
The headliners were the Leyba sisters and Reagan Kotschau, with senior forward Hope Leyba checking in at No. 37, senior defender Faith Leyba at No. 45 and senior midfielder Reagan Kotschau at No. 55.
On the freshman side, goalkeeper Brooke Goerish earned the No. 23 spot, while midfielder Sloane Phillips came in at No. 63.
That recognition comes with Colorado sitting at 11-4-1 overall and 5-3-0 in Big 12 play after Thursday’s 4-0 win at Arizona. Through 16 matches, the Buffs have piled up 38 goals and nine shutouts.
Hope Leyba has been right in the middle of it. She shares the team lead with nine goals, has added three assists for 21 points and has scored three game-winners.
One of the biggest came when she opened the scoring in Colorado’s 3-0 win over then-No. 7 Baylor on Oct.
- She also scored three times against Denver on Sept. 11, a night that gave her Colorado’s career record with her third hat trick.
Her two-goal effort against Baylor pushed her to third place in program history with 41 career goals, just one behind Nikki Marshall for second. In that same win, she also set Colorado’s career shots-on-goal record.
Faith Leyba has been just as important on the back end. Colorado has shut out nine opponents this season, including a stretch of five straight clean sheets from Sept. 3-24, and she has been a constant presence in that run. She has started all 16 matches, added a goal and two assists, and capped Thursday’s win at Arizona with her first goal of the season.
The national attention on the Leyba sisters has already been building. Both were named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Mid-Season Watch List on Sept. 30, making Colorado the only Big 12 program with two selections.
Kotschau has put together a big all-around season, leading the Buffs with 28 points on nine goals and 10 assists. Those totals already top everything she posted last year in each category. She has four game-winning goals and matched Colorado’s single-season assist record with her 10th on Thursday, joining Taylor Kornieck, Shanade Hopcroft and Emerson Layne.
At Arizona, Kotschau also converted her fifth penalty kick of the season, breaking Kornieck’s program single-season mark of four from 2019. She followed that by setting up Faith Leyba’s goal, giving her a goal and an assist in each of Colorado’s last two matches.
Goerish has given Colorado immediate stability in goal. The freshman has played in all 16 matches, started 12 and gone 10-3-0 with a 0.77 goals-against average and an .844 save percentage. She has made 54 saves, collected five solo shutouts and shared four more.
Her best single-game save total came at Kansas State, where she matched her career high with eight stops, including six after halftime. Her 10 wins already rank second among freshman goalkeepers in Colorado history, trailing only Jalen Tompkins’ 15 in 2016.
Phillips has also made a steady imprint in her first season. She has appeared in all 16 matches, started 10 and produced a goal and five assists for seven points, with her five assists ranking second on the team behind Kotschau.
She has assisted on each of Colorado’s last two goals, setting up Lilian Zamorano’s winner at Kansas State and Michaela McGowan’s goal at Arizona. Earlier in the season, Phillips scored her first college goal in the Buffs’ 6-0 win over Army on Aug. 16.
UP NEXT: available here.
In Other News...
Reagan Kotschau Gave Colorado Fans Another Reason To Celebrate
Colorados womens soccer team kept rolling with a 4-0 win over Arizona, getting goals from four different players and another clean sheet in a season that has been defined by control on both ends. Senior midfielder Reagan Kotschau was right in the middle of it, helping the Buffaloes dictate the pace while head coach Danny Sanchez saw his group back up the momentum with another convincing road performance.
Kotschau also gave Buffaloes fans a milestone to remember, adding to a season that has already featured plenty of production from the veteran midfielder. Colorado outshot Arizona 13-5 and never let the Wildcats generate a shot on goal, which made the night feel even more complete as the Buffs locked down their ninth shutout of the year. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Faces An Oklahoma State Threat Fans Shouldn't Overlook
Oklahoma State arrives with more than just a dangerous offense, because Drew Mestemaker has become one of the more talked-about quarterbacks in the country. The buzz around him has been loud enough to push him into first-round NFL Draft conversations, and some mock drafts have even sent him as high as No. 2. He has been a major reason the program has regained national attention, with head coach Eric Morris leaning into modern recruiting methods and an offensive system that fits Mestemaker's skill set.
For Colorado, the challenge is obvious: this is a quarterback who can swing a game with his arm and command a defense's full attention. The concern for Oklahoma State, though, is that the hype comes with some volatility, and Mestemaker has already thrown six interceptions this season. That makes him a fascinating threat to prepare for, because the ceiling is enormous even if the margin for error has not disappeared. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Injury News Could Change What Oklahoma State Faces Saturday
Colorados injury report for Saturdays visit from Oklahoma State brought a little more clarity, even if it still leaves the Buffaloes short-handed heading into Week 8. The official list shows seven players unavailable, but there was at least some movement in the right direction as Ashley and Lester were upgraded from questionable to probable, giving Deion Sanders team a bit more optimism on the margins.
The more revealing part of the report came with Richardson and Atkins being taken off the injury list altogether, which usually points to something bigger than a simple week-to-week setback. For Colorado, that matters in a few different spots, from depth on defense to the tight end room, and it leaves the Buffs still sorting out who is truly close to returning before they try to handle an Oklahoma State team that will be watching those updates just as closely. [Read more 🡒]